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Has anyone ever went down on their bike from tar snakes? I've noticed that they can be very un-nerving at highway speeds---especially if they run perpendicular to you when you're riding.

Black snakes are scary at speed in a lean for sure I have a healthy respect for em for sure.

Particularly bad here in NE Ohio I've been skating off of them for years but haven't gone down because of them............yet! Every time I need a new rear tire I look them all over again trying to decide which one might handle the snakes best but doubt there's any such tire. If anyone ever finds a good tire for snakes post up. Best you can do is run a tire with enough grip to get a hold again on the other side I think.

gsJack wrote:Particularly bad here in NE Ohio I've been skating off of them for years but haven't gone down because of them............yet! Every time I need a new rear tire I look them all over again trying to decide which one might handle the snakes best but doubt there's any such tire. If anyone ever finds a good tire for snakes post up. Best you can do is run a tire with enough grip to get a hold again on the other side I think.

The tires on my 750 Shadow Aero are those wide, fat tires that have practically no tread. Not sure how good they are on tar snakes...

In summer when they are soft from the heat, they can be the devil. Other times of the year they don't bother me. That said, the worst that's ever happened is a little rear wheel kick-out. Unnerving, but a long way from going down on the bike.

damn things scare me almost as much as a combination of spilled diesel and rain on a fast sweeping bend......

I really don't have a problem with the perpendicular ones, it's the long parallel or all over the lane ones that give me the willies. slick when wet and sticky in the heat...

I'm with Doc here. The ones that scare me the most are the ones like Doc described while you're in a corner...

The New York DOT seems to LOVE tar snakes---they're everywhere on 2-lane state highways here. Last year during my first year of riding, I didn't ride the highways much because I had a dual-sport bike---it was horrible trying to ride at highway speeds. This will be my first year of highway riding. Should be interesting...